Tag Archives: Mississippi Burning

On the morning of August 13, 1955, Lamar Smith, a 63-year-old African American farmer and veteran of World War I, was shot and killed in front of the Lincoln County Courthouse in Brookhaven, Mississippi, while encouraging African Americans to vote … Continue reading →

In 1964, Michael Schwerner, a white New Yorker working with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), traveled to Mississippi to organize black citizens to vote. Schwerner worked extensively with James Chaney, a black CORE member from Meridian, Mississippi. The activist … Continue reading →